Exclusief inkijkje: dit had vluchtende Jos Brech allemaal bij zich
Jos Brech carried all this gear at the time of his flight. With video
Two days after the arrest of Jos Brech, the accused of the murder of Nicky Verstappen, his confiscated 'survival baggage' is safely stored with the National Police in Barcelona. De Telegraaf paid an exclusive visit to the inspector who was able to lock up the most sought-after man in the Netherlands.
"The case has surprised me a lot, a very special story", says inspector Antonio Navarro Acevedo. "We really wanted to detain this man because he was so wanted in the Netherlands."
Of course, more people are being arrested for whom a European arrest warrant has been issued, but Brech is a special case, also for Navarro. "Normally this involves people fleeing and hiding in cities who use false documents. But this man wanted to stay under the radar in a different way."
"Look, he had a survival kit with him to be able to escape and disappear as soon as he came into the spotlight of the police. He was even prepared to sleep in caves. He also had a lot of prepared food with him, even a book on edible plants. And fishing gear, so that he could catch his own food. Plus tools to build a cabin." He shakes his head in disbelief. "Weird."
Navarro Acevedo shows the equipment that the police found when they arrested Brech on Sunday at 3 pm just outside the village of Castellterçol. They are silent witnesses of the journey that eventually led him to Catalonia via the Vosges.
Brech had a filter with him to purify water and make it drinkable, a wallet, a Dutch driving licence, two bank cards, a health insurance card, a USB stick, batteries, memory cards from a photo camera, GPS transmitter, pens, batteries, a notebook and watch. He had stored a lot in an outdoor backpack.
Road maps he carried with him also show that he had prepared himself well for a flight to the northeast of Spain. When he was arrested, he carried maps of the Bages region (in the Pyrenees, the border area between France and Spain), of the Catalan regions of Lluçanès and a few other areas, and of the famous 'Ter Route', which links the Pyrenees with the Costa Brava. Navarro points to the map of Catalonia, which hangs in his office. "Catalonia has many forests. Here around Manresa and everything behind it, there alone he could have remained hidden for a long time."
The inspector thinks Brech entered Spain somewhere in April. "We were not looking for him then, because at that time the European Arrest Warrant was not yet in force. That dates from 13 June. Look, here it is. Brech himself stated before the court that he had been in Spain since the end of March. "That is indeed possible," Navarro says.
In any case, it is logical that Brech may have used transport after all. "He may have entered Spain by car, or perhaps on foot." Brech had a Dutch driving licence with him.
If he had help with his trip: Navarro doubts it. "I don't think so, because he was a very solitary man who didn't appear to trust anyone."
The army green hiker's bag also contained a German-language guide - Brech speaks the language of our eastern neighbours - with the name "Eating Herbs: Survival Knowledge in Extreme Situations," something about which he fervently told the informant of De Telegraaf, who reported his place of residence to the international search team during the weekend.
Navarro tells us that he was called by the Dutch police at nine o'clock on Sunday morning. "We have special units, who are dedicated exclusively to the search for missing persons. We have passed on the information to them. They located the house and waited until he came out. He did not resist, he was surprised." It was six hours after he received the phone call from the Netherlands.
Navarro is satisfied.
"The cooperation with the Netherlands is very good, we have received detailed descriptions. Brech did not sense his arrest was coming, Navarro says. "He felt safe, in this area, because it was a mountain area close to a village. He could easily disappear again."
After his arrest he remained calm, Navarro says. "He didn't speak until he was brought before a judge." During the court hearing Brech indicated that he had no objection to extradition to the Netherlands, but his Spanish lawyer Iñigo Cobo Martinez did not manage to get him at liberty until then. "The danger of escape is too great," according to spokeswoman Inma Moreno of the national court in Madrid yesterday afternoon. She also indicated that it could take up to a week before he leaves for our country, but in principle this could happen at any moment.
BBM
When I found this interview, it was free for all to see, but that seems to have changed while I was working on it and it is now hidden behind a members-only wall.
The video can still be found here:
Exclusief: kijkje in overlevingskit Jos Brech
My original impression of Bushcrafters was that they would live in nature, with nature, for as long as possible. Looking at the gear Jos Brech has with him, a lot of it was hi-tech. He used GPS instead of navigating by the stars for instance.
The health insurance card is odd to say the least. Of course it is wise to have health insurance. But the other side of the coin is that the moment he used it, he would have been traceable. Also, this indicates that he would have had an income somewhere, possibly a form of benefits that continued, even during his lengthy absence from the Netherlands and while he was missing.